Study: Prince William, Va., policy appears to affect Hispanic population
Prince William County's controversial immigration policy appears to have had some effect, as the growth of the county's Hispanic population now lags behind that of other jurisdictions, a report from the University of Virginia states.
The three-year, $385,000 study - released Tuesday by the university's Center for Survey Research - also found that the county's noncitizen Hispanic population, legal and illegal, dropped by 7,700 from 2006 to 2008, and that illegal immigrants accounted for 2,000 to 6,000 of that decline.
The study also found that illegal immigrants were committing a relatively small percentage of the county's serious crimes, just 6 percent in 2009.
The county's police and elected officials requested the study to look at the implementation and effects of a policy - adopted in 2007 and modified in 2008 - that requires police officers to check the immigration status of all people arrested on suspicion of violating state or federal law.
The original policy directed officers to check the immigration status of people only if there was probable cause to believe that they were in the country illegally.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/16/AR2010111607547.html